Is Airbnb Trying to Save the World? You Might Think So From its Latest Global Ad

Lance Acord Directs a Rousing Spot in Campaign Centering on Kindness

By Alexandra Jardine; Felicia Greiff.Published on Jul 14, 2015

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Is staying in an Airbnb apartment going to achieve world peace and understanding? Maybe not, but this campaign from the brand almost makes you feel like it could.

The travel brand's new global ad is rousing stuff, filmed by top director Lance Acord of Park Pictures. It shows a baby toddling towards a door, while the voiceover asks "Is man kind? Are we good?" and challenges us to "go look through their windows so you can understand their views, sit at their tables so you can share their tastes," and so forth in order to find out.

According to Airbnb CMO Jonathan Mildenhall, the baby in the film is meant to represent innocence and curiosity, while the V.O., performed by actress Angela Bassett, represents the voice of wisdom, he said.

The ad, by TBWA/Chiat/Day is a follow-up to Airbnb's previous global campaign Never a Stranger, which addressed our fears about staying in someone else's house head-on, reassuring us that it would be a great experience. According to a statement from the brand, this new spot is meant to communicate that "when we trust in the kindness of our fellow man, we discover that the world isn't such a scary place after all."

The campaign also includes social media outdoor creative that states "MAN-KIND" on billboards in the U.K., U.S. and Australia, portraying situations that may either highlight the kindness of man, or call it into question.